The Securities and Futures Commission has been looking into a mysterious advertisement offering for the sale of 20 million shares in a mainland company that is only due to launch its initial public offering on Monday.
The advertisement in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Wednesday offered to sell shares of listing-candidate Hidili Industry International Development.
It included a contact number, but it did not identify the seller or disclose the price. The company is selling 600 million new shares at HK$5.05 to HK$6.65 each to raise as much as HK$3.99 billion.
The South China Morning Post yesterday called the number in the advertisement but got no answer.
A regulatory source said it was illegal to advertise investment schemes or share sales without SFC authorisation.
As the shares have yet to be listed, this supposed offering is likely to fall outside the securities statutes.
The maximum penalty for such malpractices is three years of imprisonment and a HK$500,000 fine.
